16-11-2018
安东尼·科尔曼(Anthony Coleman)捕捉到了伦敦市政厅谨慎的魅力,许多市政厅已不再为其原有用途服务,或面临拆除。伦敦摄影师安东尼·科尔曼向他所在城市的公共建筑致敬,拍摄了一系列曾经是市政厅的建筑。#raybet官网他的项目主题,市政厅系列:伦敦类型学跨越200多年——从哈克尼老市政厅(1802年)到布伦特市政中心(2013年)——给我们一个快照,这些建筑的历史,它们的最初用途和它们现在的遗迹。据摄影师说,伦敦市政厅的重要性在于,它们反映了当时的精神,在那个时候,地方政府“不仅仅是管理预算”,还提供了许多不同的服务,如剧院、游泳池、图书馆和行政管理在同一屋檐下,这是城市最重要的建筑。这意味着他们可以激励社区,促进公民参与。现在,许多这样的建筑已经被改造或面临拆除。据科尔曼报道,温布利的市政厅现在是一所法国私立学校,而温布尔登则是一家乐购超市。与哈克尼市政厅相比,这根本不值一提,而哈克尼市政厅现在已经变成了一家博彩店。这真的是公民自豪感的表现吗?随着时间的推移,这种参与是如何沦落到支持个人自由和个人主义的一边的? Apart from these sociological interpretations, Coleman has given us an artist’s impression of the history of public architecture in London. He took lots of different shots of each subject, using a wide shift lens and amalgamates several pictures into one, editing out the unwanted details, and even giving each image the same grey-coloured sky, to make them all match with each other. The result is an extremely objective description of the buildings, making it easier to compare them and find differences and similarities. “There’s a tremendous formality to them,” says the photographer. They even look very heroic, with their symmetry, their flagpoles, their embellishments and the grand space left around them. But they also have a strident touch of melancholy, as if they don’t really want to show off, because they know that they were built to serve the city and the people Shoreditch Town Hall, designed by Caesar Augustus Long in 1866, perhaps embodies this dual character more than any of the others. On the facade a statue resembling Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory towers above the motto More Light, More Power, surrounded by a triumph of friezes, glazing and columns. When the Town Hall was built, ambitions for the building were high, according to a contemporary report by Hackney District Board of Works. “We hope and do not unreasonably anticipate that the use of the edifice may tend to develop, strengthen and perpetuate the municipal principle, and to secure the Metropolis, the advantages of Local Self-Government for Centuries to come”. After handling the case of Jack the Ripper, staging theatrical performances and facilitating evacuations during the Blitz, about fifteen years ago, the Shoreditch Town Hall was converted into an “exciting destination contemporary arts and events venue at the heart of the buzzing creative scene,” complete with Michelin-starred restaurant. These buildings were designed and built to be fundamental to the community, and Anthony Coleman’s straightforward and precise rendering emphasises their civic importance. What doesn’t come through in these photographs is to what extent the idea behind the building has been respected over time, their external appearance aside. And against this, it begs the questions of to what extent are the fundamental values of the public realm that we constitute still alive today, behind appearances and facades? In this, perhaps, the paths of public architecture and a sense of civic pride have diverged over the years. Francesco Cibati Website Anthony Coleman: http://www.anthonycoleman.com